Weight loss is a bonus!

[Maralian]

OK now I really need to use a diary. I started SB on 1/19/09 and did great on phase 1. I was doing pretty good on phase 2 but for almost a month now I have been on and off and I need to get control over my cravings again. I need to write my food plan everyday to keep me in track. I start tomorrow which is a Tuesday, and that is already a breakthrough since I used to always start "diets" on Mondays, but I cannot spend 6 more days messing up with the cravings, it is time to react!

B: 3x3 (thanks Suzzi for the recipe!), 1/2 cup beans, V8 (I will try again with some lime, I didn't like it the first time I tried it)
S1: cucumber with baba ganoujh (sp?)
L: Pork stew with lots of veggies (zucchini, tomato, onion) and a side of mushrooms (cooked with tomato, onion and olive oil)
S2: pistacchios (1oz)
D: don't know yet, may go out so I will need to be very careful

[joesuzzi]

Your menu looks great !
Big congrats on starting your journal too.
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The great thing about journaling is that if you have a "no loss" week....or hit a stall....it is easy to check back of what you ate each day.....making it totally easy to change something here & there.
I still journal my food every single day. Funny thing is that after I am done posting it I then can spot what I did wrong for that day....like no nuts....or no dairy......KWIM ?? Plus it keeps me honest....accountability !

[Maralian]

Hi Mom, thank you for checking in! you really take good care of your kids
I see you have lots of pages in your journal, as I told you before you are a great inspiration and you are doing better than ever! way to go!

I am doing great today so far, I still think I need something sweet so I will go for a fudgesicle, I remember they are delicious!
For dinner I had a stuffed pepper with chicken, jicama and some beans with melted cheese and a SF jello.
The babba ganoujh was awesome, definetly a keeper for my snack tomorrow, I will try it with jicama.
I did so so with the water, I think I drank maybe 30oz, so tomorrow I will remember to keep drinking, that helps a lot to keep the mouth busy (chewing gum is the other option but I finish by being sore, and I think I swallow too much air ) and it helps to clean the system!
I forgot to drink the V8, I guess I am not so looking forward...
Tomorrow's menu:

B: ham with melted cheese, beans and hopefully a V8
S: jicama with BG
L: big salad with balsamic vinagrette and some grilled pork
S: 1 oz cashews
D: as always, I will decide when back home. BTW, today I ate at home so it was easier to behave!

[Maralian]

Ok I tried the V8 with lime juice and thought it tasted good, but I get a headache right away when drinking it and feel like gagging so I give up, I'll need to find another way to incorporate veggies for breakfast (the 3x3's are great for that!).
I already had the experience of the headache and gag sensation but I thought it was because I didn't like the taste, but now I really liked with the lime juice but I just don't feel good (allergies?).
I forgot the jicama at home so I will have it for dinner so my sncak was the V8, well 1/2 a can and it is almost time for lunch. BTW, my lunch is still the salad but instead of the pork it will be a stuffed poblano pepper with chicken.

[joesuzzi]

That stuffed pablano pepper sounds really good.......I have forgotten all about having those !
Keep in mind that you ARE getting veggies with your 3X3 (spinach & mushrooms & whatever else you threw in there)
Some people just can't do the V-8...........and it has a ton of salt in it too.
Sounds like you are doing great.........keep up the drinking of the water........they want us to have AT LEAST 64 oz.'s........but I always go for 100 oz.'s.
I think the water really makes a big difference in the weight loss....and it helps keep your tummy full too ! KEEP GOING !

[Maralian]

Yesterday I ended up going to whole foods for lunch and I could get a nice huge salad with spinach, zucchini, tomato, feta cheese, lettuce, balsamic vinaigrette and warm grilled chicken on the top, it was yummy.
For my snack, since I forgot also the cashews (luckily I didn't forget my head!) I had pistachios that I keep by my desk. I think I had about 1.5oz so it was 50% more than I should but I was hungry. I also had some BG (2Tbsp).
My dinner was an egg with beans, grilled cheese no bread of course (I love it! it gets so crunchy!) and ham.
I had a hard time yesterday in the afternoon, I wanted to get a snack, I wanted to cheat, I wanted a cake, a bread, a starch, anything that I know I should not have so I decided to go to the vending machine to get a diet pepsi. I introduced my $1 bill, pushed the button and get a message “$1.25” arrgghh! I guess no diet pepsi for me today. I went back to my desk and drank more water and chewed some gum.
At home I had a fudgesicle after dinner, that is what I needed. Gosh! Sometimes is sooo hard to behave.

Today’s menu:

B: 3x3 and beans (you are right Mom, that includes the veggies! )
S: 1 oz pistachios (this time I stopped on time)
L: the famous stuffed poblano pepper that is still in the fridge. I will need to get a salad or a soup as well or I will end up hungry like yesterday.
S: jicama (I didn’t forget) w/ BG
D: we’ll see
S: very likely to get a fudgesicle

[Maralian]

Yesterday for dinner I had a huge salad with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, red bell pepper, and I added some leftover apple (maybe 1/2 apple). I added pork (warm) and balsamic vinaigrette. It was veeeery good, I measured the volume and it was 4 cups! wow! I finished the day with a fudgesicle.
I must confess that during the day I ate a couple of kisses too bad on one hand but it felt good not to keep going and eat the whole bag, uff!
Today is going to be tough, we have family from Mexico in the house so I took a day off and we are going out the whole day so I need to be very careful with the temptations.
Today's menu:
B (late): eggs with tomato and onions, beans and a ww mini-bagel
S: cashews and something else
L/D: we are going to a pizza place, I will get a salad there
S: since they are going to a baseball game at 7pm I will come back home with my kids and will be able to eat something beachy.

I am adding some P2 items like the 1/2 apple yesterday and the mini-bagel this morning and it seems to be working. I just need to be careful not to add them too quickly.

[joesuzzi]

On the pistashio's.....we get to have 30 of them at a serving ....every other type of nut we only get 15...........so I always go for the pistashio's ! So I think 1.5 oz's is within the limits, right ?
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Do you have any cravings popping up Maralian?? I know with easter being Sunday there will be alot of goodies around............stay strong...........it will be a difficult time !
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The fact that you were able to STOP at a couple of kisses is GOOD !! Shows self control. They are not going to kill you.
Hope you & your family have a wonderful Easter......STAY BEACHY !!

[Maralian]

Hi Suzzi! For some reason I thought we were limited to 1oz of any nut, I'll be more carefull from now on.
AS for the cravings, well, I feel really tempted but I am resisting and that makes me feel good, I guess that is the struggle for everybody, the thing to learn is to stop even when we eat something we are not supposed to. Have a great Easter you too!

Yesterday we did not go to the pizza place, instead we went to the mall and ate at the food court. I was prepared with a bag of nuts that I ate instead and just bought a diet pepsi. When I got home I was starving but I could eat a nice stuffed pepper (and I still have one left!) with chicken, beans and cheese. I also had a sf jello and later on a fudgesicle.
I also prepared ratatouille in the crock pot, I love it because it is a delicious 100% veggie dish that I can easily incorporate in my meals.

Today's meal plan:
B: egg with ham, cheese, beans and a mini-bagel
S: maybe some jicama
L: grilled meat with ratatouille and maybe guacamole (if the avocados turn out good)
S: cashews
D: salad

[joesuzzi]

HAPPY EASTER MARALIAN !!!!!!

[Maralian]

You are so sweet Suzzi, I hope you had a great Easter too.

Today I did pretty good, we took the family visit Nashville Indiana, most of the stores were closed (duh!) but luckily there were still enough to make the visit worth. We left the house around 9am and were planning to stop somewhere to have breakfast but decided instead to just grab something at Panera bread well, I decided to hurry and eat something at home, so I had beans with ham and cheese, no veggies but at least more beachy than a sugary bagel. At Panera I just got a capuccino with skim milk and that's it! I took with me some cashews and they really came handy when we were looking for a restaurant and found must of them closed (again duh!). We ended up at McDonalds where I ordered a Bacon Ranch chicken salad which I ate with grilled chicken, no dressing and trying to remove as much of the bacon as possible. Then, everybody wanted an ice cream and since I was driving, as soon as I saw a dairy queen, I stopped there because I remember many people in this forum talk about the no sugar added fudgesicles that they sell there, so my plan worked great! so far so good.
When we got home I was a little hungry so I had a ww minibagel with beans, ham and cheese that I put in the toaster and it was very good, a nice idea for a quick breakfast! I just need to add the veggies which I didn't today. Everything was going great until that stupid chocolate bunny kept stearing at me, he was so mean that I had to eat it!
Oh! well! it was not a perfect day, little veggies and the chocolate but I think I did pretty good handling the situation (before the bunny atack).
OK but let's move on and here is my plan for tomorrow:

B: 3x3 and beans
S: BG with ww crackers
L: pork with ratatouille
S: pistachios
D: TBD
S: will try to incorporate a fruit or maybe a fudgesicle for a change

[Maralian]

Wow, I couldn’t believe it when I weighed myself on Monday, I am at 134, this getting back in track is really working, I am so happy! Today I am even wearing a pair of pants that I hadn’t wear for a while, they are still a little tight but not uncomfortable.
There were some changes in the menu yesterday. For lunch I went out with a colleague to a Vietnamese restaurant where I had the “crepe” which is prepared with eggs and stuffed with pork, shrimp, onions, and lots of bean sprouts. You eat it preparing lettuce wraps with some fish sauce to taste. I thought it was 100% SB but actually I am not sure whether the crepe itself has some flour on it, I guess yes but that is ok because I ate mainly the other ingredients thinking that I already had eggs for breakfast. I had pistachios as the afternoon snack.
For dinner I had a very exotic combination: stuffed poblano pepper with chicken topped with beans, cheese and lots of ratatouille! It was very good! Since I was still hungry I had some Fiber One cereal with lf yogurt as dessert. No fruit though… Maybe tomorrow, I’ll try again!

Today’s menu:
B: beans with melted cheese and ham (today I had breakfast at home! )
S: Go Lean cereal, coffee
L: the stuff from yesterday: pork with ratatouille
S: pistachios and orange (?)
D: TBD must likely a salad

[Maralian]

Yesterday I ate as planned. For dinner it was chicken with ratatouille instead of a salad, I am so lazy to prepare salads even though I like them, hum!
Today's menu:
B: Fiber One cereal with yogurt
S: orange and cheese stick (the orange yesterday was delicious!)
L: Same as yesterday, pork with ratatouille
S: crackers with BG or pistachios
D: TBD

I realize that I eat a lot of the same but it is ok so far, I like it, I just need to be careful not to get bored. I have to go...

[joesuzzi]

Nothing wrong with eating the same things each day....as long as you are enjoying it!
I tend to do the same thing (mainly because of being lazy....seems like I am always in the kitchen !)
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You are doing really good and I know you are tickled with the loss you had. Keep going girl....you are going to make it !

[Maralian]

I erased this entry by mistake!